| Natalie began her journey with yoga in 1993 and immediately embraced it with a certainty that this discipline would change her life. It did. Mired in an unsatisfying and stifling position in a Fortune 500 corporation, initially the practice served her by easing her stress levels, facilitating camraderie with colleagues and enhancing focus and productivity. As her practice developed new levels of communication, optimism and creativity started to emerge, and her desire to deepen her practice grew. After several years of exploration in different schools, in 1999 Natalie entered the Jivamukti teacher training, which at that time was conducted as a year long integrative experience where trainees remained in the world while embracing and practicing demanding levels of sadhana. Her work as a teacher began on completion of that program. In 2005, Natalie was awarded with 80o hour Advanced Board Certification in the Jivamukti Yoga method. In 2003, Natalie met Saul Goodman, the founder of the International Schools of Shiatsu and embarked on a an intensive course of study in the method of Shiatsu Shin Tai. Shin Tai (which means source body) is an integrative method of deeply healing bodywork which addresses the body as a field of consciousness. Through alignment of bone structure, fascial tissue, acupuncture meridian and chakra, balance and spaciousness are restored in the body. As this spaciousness returns, clarity emerges and the client is free to move towards greater fulfillment of their potential - they are free to evolve. Through consistent application and study of the supporting theories, techniques and practices of yoga and shiatsu (study of sanskrit, ancient texts, asana, oriental medical theory, macrobiotics, anatomy and physiology, ayurveda and the yoga of sound and devotion among others) what began to emerge over the years was a unique vision and voice about the essential nature of yoga, healing, and the creation of a good life. Natalie calls her classes Hatha Vinyasa, to reflect their basis in the timeless truths of yoga. It is not a method, but rather a way of looking at yoga which can enhance the experience of any method. The word Hatha, which refers to the sun and the moon, references an essential aspect of yoga which is based on the interplay of duality. Found in all yoga disciplines, and also in Oriental medical theory and macrobioticsw, this approach grounds our practice in disciplines which have the potential to deeply enhance our physical lives. The word Vinyasa was chosen to reflect the transcendent insight which arises through conscious use of breath, bandha and sequencing in a flow practice. When we bring these aspects of the practice together we can experience the best that asana has to offer, a stable, joyful and sustainable experience of our bodies and our lives, yoked together with the blissful experience of merging with the sacred. |